It's, Like, a Family Thing, Man
by E-Merging
Summary: When Nora Rogers is sent to her Uncle's for the summer, she plans her escape early, dreading the next two months because of her Uncle's dumb dog. But Nora soon realizes home is not where you live, but where they understand you.    updated on Mondays
1. Character Building

**Working Title: It's Like, a Family Thing, Man  
Summary: When Nora Rogers is sent to her Uncle's for the summer, she plans her escape early, dreading the next two months. But Nora soon realizes ****home is not where you live, but where they understand you.****Genre: Drama/Humor  
Rating: K+ Some dry humor, but hey!**** Characters: Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Doo, ocs  
Warning(s): ocs, not much. Oh, stupid puns. And penguins.  
Disclaimer: You took the words right out of mouth. Wait, I thought that's what a disclaimer was…?**

**Author's Notes: Rivvy: **A word from our sponsor: ...Yeah I got nothing. You talk Daisy.**  
Torpe:** Hi mom!

Nora Rogers spent her last Friday before summer vacation mucking out stalls at a local barn in Coolsville. Her friends were Sneaky, Lizzie, Player and Summer. Four horses that were friendly enough letting some stranger into their stalls and feed and bathe them and turn them out daily. But poor company in the way of conversation.

_Character building_, her mom called it.

_A living hell. _Nora called it.

Fourteen-year-olds on their last day of middle school should be planning their last summer before _High_ School with a gaggle of other eager soon-be-freshman, planning sleepovers and campouts and road trips with the group's designated cool moms.

They should not be working…working like this. Dropping and picking up hay-bales, pushing rakes and wheelbarrows. Especially wheelbarrows up to their brim in…well, you know.

Nora stood up straight and cracked her back. She sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, resulting in a dirt smudge over her eye. She replayed the evening over and over in her head.

_"What do you _mean_ you're going away?" Nora yelled at her mother. She was obviously displeased, to say the least._

_"I mean just that. It's only for a couple months, sweetheart. And, besides, if I meet someone, it could be better for the both of us," Maggie Rogers shifted the car into park, just outside the barn. At least she was smart enough to tell the girl when dropping her off, and could give her a few hours to cool down. Or maybe not, she could just practice using a pitchfork..._

_Nora scoffed, "Oh yeah, like the _last_ time you met a guy?" She was mentioning her father, of course. Well, not father, just the donor of 23 chromosomes her mother chased off with two tender words; '_I'm pregnant'.

_"Nora! Please! Don't you think I deserve to be happy?" Nora opened her mouth to respond but Ms. Rogers continued on, "I AM going on this cruise, and that's final. And while I'm gone, you're going to be staying with your uncle."_

_"You mean the hippie and his Great Dane? You're kidding! I refuse!"_

_Maggie held back a small growl in her throat, "You do not get a say in this. I trust your uncle; he practically raised _me_."_

_"That's not saying much." Nora mumbled before slamming the car door and storming in the barn_.

Putting away the pitchfork and the barrel, she ran by the tack door and grabbed a thick lead rope to bring Lizzie and Player in and Sneaky out for the night.

Her last day here. Or was it? She could probably get a full on job here over the summer, if she wanted. But…

_Those weren't really my plans for the summer. Still, neither was mom going on vacation and leaving me behind._ Nora mulled over her gloom as she finished leading Sneaky out, the last thing she had to do for the day was finally done, when a ridiculous looking van lumbered up the driveway in front of the stables. It had flowers, _("orange flowers, oh my god, oh. MY. GOD." _Nora thought,) blue lining, and clanked and squealed with every roll. It was a mystery that machine even ran.

Nora was on the side paddock, and she watched with horrified eyes as the vehicle stopped sideways, pointed toward the loop that lead back to the road.

"No, please, no." The brunette whispered to Sneaky and the powers that be, who was watching the multicolor machine with interest, ears perked.

The front door opened on the side opposite of what she could see, and then was shut, and her lanky bean pole of an Uncle walked around the nose of the van, smiling cheerfully.

He gave a wave, "Like, hey there kiddo! Like man, I haven't seen ya' in ages, how ya been doin, Norry?"

_Oh my god, I forgot he called me that. _Nora folded the lead rope under her arms and met her Uncle halfway, placing an awkward smile on her face in doing so.

"Hey…Uncle Shaggy. I've been good. …You?"

"I'm pretty good, though I could go for some chow," Shaggy responded, chuckling a little.

"Yeah, well, okay," Nora took one step back, "I, uh, gotta lock up the barn. Mom should be here soon." Nora at this point wished she could just hang up a phone for the conversation to be over. Of course, whom ever was in charge wasn't feeling generous with wish granting that night. Only causing nightmares.

"Well, that's just what I'm here for, Norry," God, was she grateful no one else there to hear that horrid nickname, though she thought she heard Sneaky snicker.

"Um, what?"

"I'm taking you home and we're all having dinner together. We're also going to, like, talk and figure everything out, okay?"

"O-okay Uncle Shaggy."

This was a turn of events, but it seemed like a generally good turn, actually. So at least she wouldn't be just dumped on her Uncle's doorstep and left behind, as her mom was sometimes prone to do. Nora loved her mother, she really did, but it was a different relationship than what she thought a mother and daughter should be to each other. But maybe she was in the wrong? Who knew.

When the Mystery Machine pulled into Nora's driveway, it was the only car in it. Swallowing a lump in her throat, because she _knew_ something like this would happen, the teen didn't bother waiting for the van to come to a complete stop. She had her seatbelt undone and was out the door before it rolled to a stop.

Shaggy seemed to confused as to where his sister's car was, and didn't notice his niece jumping out until the door was left open and Nora was sprinting up the walk and flying up the steps to front door.

A small piece of paper was taped on to one of the two suitcases that sat on the steps. Nora had come to a complete standstill and was staring at it. Shaggy walked up with four long strides and plucked the note from the suitcase. Nora already knew what it said, but she stayed silent and her Uncle read it aloud.

_Dear Nora and Shaggy:_

_Sorry you missed me, turns out my flight was three hours earlier than I thought! Oh well! Nora, behave for your Uncle and Shaggy, don't let her give you too much steam! _

_~Love and Kisses, Mom and Sister_

Nora turned and kicked her suitcase, and both slipped quietly, without any resistance over onto their sides like small, mortally wounded animals.

Shaggy, for his part, looked uncomfortable and distressed at the same time. He watched his niece pick up her suitcases, then took one from her and swung an arm over her shoulder. "C'mon kiddo." Shaggy said quietly. "Let's still get some grub, and we'll figure something out on our own, alrighty?"

Shaggy decided they'd just head to his house and eat, and they could always go out the next night maybe. Shaggy drove and talked, to fill the silence that was leaking from the passenger seat like the tar monster.

"But like, for Sugey," he said, referring to his sister with her own childhood nickname, "to just head of like that, zoinks, that just seemed…outta character or something-"

"You can't honestly be surprised by this, can you Uncle Shaggy!" Nora shattered the unease in the van with a hammer and turned it to tense. "She does this all the time, I'm not kidding, she just doesn't care, she picks up and leaves and I'm-" _Left behind._ Nora's throat closed.

_'Fourteen year olds don't cry, Nora. Forget it, and you just yelled at your Uncle about his baby sister, so who is gonna take your side this time?' _

Not taking his eyes of the road, but glancing several times to the passenger seat, Shaggy seemed to empathize with her. "Nora…" He heaved a sigh, as if to expel the heat surrounding them. "Like, I'm sorry kiddo. We're all forgetful sometimes, y'know? That's not much an excuse but like, don't worry. Sugey left me her room number on the cruise, and the number the line will be using, so you can like, give 'er a call whenever you want."

Nora leaned into the window and prayed for lightning to hit her side of the van. No more words were exchanged the rest of the short drive to Shaggy's house.

"We're home!" Shaggy proudly announced as he carried in Nora's suitcases.

He crossed the threshold of the faded blue-grass colored house and headed in. Nora stood, just over the threshold, staring into it. _'This isn't home,'_ She thought, _'Home was back a ways with two suitcases in front of it and all locked up.' _

Just as Nora expelled a hearty sigh, something came shooting down the stairs. Something very big. And very fast.

Nora was suddenly bowled over by the biggest dog she'd ever met. It was Scooby-Doo, her Uncle's Great Dane. But whoever made this dog was sadly misinformed when it came to Scooby; they decided to go the opposite way and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, small chin and such. Even his color is wrong.

"Rorra! Rello! Rong rime no ree!" Nora swore the dog could talk, broken English or not. Still, that didn't make her any more happy with a giant dog on her stomach.

"Get-get off me, go, shoo!" Nora wasn't in the mood, and Scooby backed off immediately, looking a little hurt. It was suddenly gone when Shaggy popped his head out of the kitchen as his niece was getting to her feet, making a show of shaking her jeans and shirt of dog fur off them.

"Like, what's going on, Scoob?"

"Rello Raggy!" Scooby's tail thumped so hard Nora was waiting for the wood to break and it go right through.

Shaggy grinned, "Chow time, o' niece of mine! Your choice! Just say your command, an like, Uncle Chef Shaggy is your humble servant!" Shaggy and Scooby looked ready to burst at the seams with having a guest, and both grinned eagerly at her.

Nora closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, "No. I wanna be left alone. I'm not hungry."

Shaggy tiled his head, looking stricken. "Uh…Like, okay."

"Where do I sleep?" Sure it was curt, even for her, but she didn't care at this point.

Startled, Shaggy jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of the stairs. "Like, you can crash in my bed for now. Second room on your left. We gotta get you a room, like, pronto, but no worries."

Now it was Nora's turn to look surprised. "Where will you sleep then?"

Shaggy grinned easily, looking relaxed, "Me an' Scoob'll just crash on the couch, no problemo. It's like, closer to the fridge anyway, right Scoobo?"

"Ru-huh!" Nora had been wrong; Scooby's tail _could_ thump harder.

"Okay. …Thanks."

Giving the dog a semi-look of disgust that no one seemed to acknowledge, Nora grabbed her suitcases and heaved it up stairs, taking careful time to slam them on every step and bang the into the wall repeatedly. She felt better after that, but only a little.

Nora spent the night sitting on her suitcase in her Uncle's room and programming her cell phone to go off on the last day of summer with party music. She also circled the last day of August in red maker twelve times on her big fold out calendar she'd brought with her.

She ignored the smell of dinner wafting under the door, but whatever it was smelled _really_ good.

At around midnight Nora opened the door to look for a bathroom, and looking down she saw a generous pile of macaroni and cheese and a few cookies sitting on a plate in front of her.

_This is…my favorite… when I was little._

Nora bit her lip, and walked to the foot of the stairs, listening to mumble of the tv and the soft snores of her Uncle and his dog.

Nora hesitated on the final step. She bit her lip harder. She knew he was asleep, but she wanted to thank him. At the same time, Nora thanked the heavens above that Shaggy _was_ asleep.

Maybe she could write him a note? If anything, note-writing was something she inherited from her mother. Besides, he probably didn't want to talk to her after her piss-poor attitude; really, what fourteen-year-old in their right mind would practically throw a temper tantrum? Nora sighed.

Nora turned on the balls of her feet to go back up the stairs. She had taken one step when, "Rorra?"

Nora practically peed herself right then and there.

She jumped around at the hoarse, yet exhausted, sounding voice, striking a crane-pose nearly as perfect as Jackie Chan himself.

The owner of the voice was none other than Scooby Doo. The dog, equally as frightened by that point, jumped back and mimicked Nora's reaction. Nora's heart slowed, but only the slightest bit, upon discovering who it was. Nora was never really one for dogs, and Scooby Doo was no exception. She eased back into a normal stance and whispered harshly, "G-go away."

Scooby cocked his head innocently, not understanding.

"Get away from me, go! Go sleep by the dryer." Nora hissed. '_Dogs, sleep by dryers, right? On old, faded mats?'_

Before Scooby could respond, because by this point Nora was _sure_ he could, Shaggy mumbled in his sleep, "Like, Scooby Doo, where are you?" His hand rose and wrapped around to the back of the couch. Scooby looked back to Nora from the couch and his master's arm, and then he slowly walked back to Shaggy.

Nora heard his tag clatter as he hopped onto the couch, and her uncle grunt from being jumped upon, and made her way up the stairs.

Nora, forgetting completely about her previous need to find the bathroom, grabbed her meal and her plate of goodies, and shut the door firmly, but not enough to slam it. She saw that her uncle gave her a fork and spoon, which was kind, in its own way. She picked up the fork and took one bite of the Macaroni. Then, another. The food was excellent, far better then anything that could ever come from a box! And before she knew it, she greedily ate the entire bowl and began munching on the cookies.

Nora, whom was on the verge of a food coma after her little 'feast', decided she would not brush her teeth until morning. She could survive a few more hours.

She laid down on her side, facing a wall with some old, ugly wallpaper, and let her eyelids lower themselves. She sighed.

_Goodnight_.


	2. Held Hostage by Underdog

**A/N's Notes: Rivy: I think most of this chapter was written by Torpe. Nora, I love you basically for your faults. **

**Torpe: Rivvy, I'm sure Nora has mutual feelings for both of us. And kids, always tip your waitresses. C:**

**Disclaimer: If only, if only, the authoresses sighed...  
**

Nora's eyes fluttered open as she heard the muffled echo of a car door shutting. It didn't register at first, but she recognized that engine. She was disoriented, not sure of where she was. Queue in the wallpaper and bad breath from Mac 'n Cheese gone untreated... "Oh, yeah." Nora sat up, at first thinking the engine was that of her mother's car, but, no. She pulled back the curtain to see a unique van, to say the least, pull out of the drive way, then made its way down the street. Nora didn't move long after it was around the corner.

"Where, is he going?" She asked no one in particular. She sighed and made her way down the stairs.

Nora quickly found her way to the kitchen, lead by a delicious smell of french toast. Nora opened the oven door, and used a near-by oven-mitt on the counter to get the cookie sheet with more pieces of bread than she could probably eat, and placed it on the stove. It was then she looked over to the table that she saw a note. She read it aloud,

"_Dear Norry,  
Like, sorry to leave you, but I thought you'd like to sleep-in on your first day of Summer-_"

"So much for that," Nora said as she rolled her eyes. "Only Uncle Shaggy would write what he'd say, word-for-word." She continued to read.

"-_Sorry, but I had to fill in at work. So, like, make yourself at home. There's breakfast for you in the oven. Just put any leftovers in the fridge. I'll, like, be home by 5. If you have any questions, just, like, ask Scoo-"_

Nora stopped reading instantly. The dog. She, was left home, with the dog. Nora gulped; where was he? Her heart raced as she tried to keep calm. '_Okay, he hasn't come for you yet; maybe he ran away! Just, stay calm, and sneak back up to Uncle Shaggy's room-_' If Nora had any dreams of becoming a ninja, she'd probably have to give them up; in an attempt to turn around, she cleanly knocked over a chair.

"Rorra?" A brown head popped in through the doggy-door just across the room from where Nora stood.

"N-no! Stay!" Scooby continued to advance on the girl. Nora searched for the correct command, "Freeze! Halt! ¡No Más! Don't come near me!" When he didn't stop, Nora took off, all but screaming. Okay, she was screaming, but she didn't mean to.

Scooby, convinced she wanted to play a game, took off after Nora. Tag! He was so happy! Finally! She liked him! He chased her around the couch, back through the kitchen, up the stairs, and he ran right into the door of Shaggy's, which was slammed into his face. Scooby hobbled backwards a bit, then shook his head clear.

Huh?

Scooby, always one to say exactly what he thought, voiced his mind. "Ruh?"

Scooby's ear perked when a muffled voice came from behind the door. "L-Leave me alone! Go, sit! Er, I mean, don't sit. Walk away! _GO_!"

The Great Dane dropped his head, stricken. So much for that.

"Rokay…"

No where to go but downstairs, Scooby headed there, tail between his legs.

Why didn't she like him? What had he done?

On the other side of the door, Nora heard the _click click_ of nails and a tinkling noise move away from the door. Fear turning to surprise that he'd actually listened to her, the young teen opened the door suspiciously and peeked through the crack.

The large dog was all but slumped to the floor, looking for all the world like a kicked…well, puppy. He lumbered down the stairs, head and tail low.

Despite the logical part of her brain (that was still screaming for animal control, by the way) Nora felt a pang of guilt for her Uncle's dog. Maybe she had been a little harsh.

Nora twisted her mouth up one side. Well, just a little.

She shut the door, wondering how her stomach could possibly still be hungry despite its midnight meal.

Scooby-Doo, on the other hand, brightened up quickly when his nose caught the scent of cinnamon. _Ohhh_….that's right, Shaggy had made cinnamon toast for breakfast!

Sniffing excitedly, the dog began to droll and trotted into the kitchen, pushing himself up to his hind legs and leaning on the counter, staring at the grill, still layered with French toast. His tail took up a fast swing behind him, sharing his eagerness.

"Rum-rum!" He spoke to himself, then opened his mouth and extended his tongue, ready to scarf up every last morsel.

When words Shaggy had said just before he left rang in his ear as clear as day.

"_Scoob, I'm like, leaving these for Norry, alrighty? If you ask I bet she'll share, but don't go eating these until she's eaten, like, got it?"_

"_Rokay Raggy!" _

Scooby dropped back onto all fours and stared at the linoleum sadly, mulling over his predicament.

If Nora didn't come down, she couldn't eat. If she didn't eat, _he_ couldn't eat.

The Great Dane heaved a heavy sigh, then stood back up on all fours. He knew what he had to do, he had to be the better man-er dog, in this case. Scooby began rummaging through the cupboards…

Maybe ten minutes after being chased by a manic dog, Nora, who was curled up on her Uncle's bed, heard that clicking sound again head for straight for her door.

Even expecting it, she still jumped when a knock-a _knock?_- Came from it.

"Rora? Rar you in rare? Rello?"

Steeling herself, she answered back "Yes. What do you want?"

"Ry rought you reakrast!"

_What_?

"What?"

"Reakreast! Ry rought you rome!"

Did he just say breakfast? He brought her breakfast, of all the- Nora was curious now, she unfolded herself from the bed and tiptoed across the floor, reaching the door and turning the knob slowly.

Whatever she expected, it wasn't this. On a tray similar to the one outside her door last night was a plate heaped with French toast, and a large glass of orange juice. Scooby sat across from it, the food between her and the dog. His tail was wagging slowly, his expression contained glee. It was obvious he wanted nothing more than to lick her face, or eat that entire plate of food, but he was sitting, sitting like a good dog.

Nora opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it once more. Scooby just wagged his tail and smiled -could dogs smile? Of course, dogs also didn't speak english, either, no matter how broken their speak was. Nora held firmly to the door just in case, though she didn't think Scooby would attack her by this point. But that didn't stop her from feeling uneasy around him, or more importantly, with him around _her_. She struggled to find her voice when Scooby chirped, "Reak?"

Nora's eyebrow shot up. 'Reak? _Did he just insult me?'_

Scooby tried again, "Reak? Ralk? Rith rou routh?"

It was then Nora understood; Scooby was trying to tell her _speak_. "Th-thank, you."

"Rora eats, Rooby-Doo eats roo."

Nora slowly bent down to the food, eyes on Scooby the entire time. Just before she could grab a slice of french toast, it clicked. '_Scooby made me a plate. Scooby had to carry it in his mouth, then to the plate..._' Nora's face turned six shades of green, she covered her mouth, and slammed her door in Scooby's face once more.

"Rora?" Scooby jumped up, worry written all over his face.

Nora dry hurked. "I'm-oh God-I'm, not hungry! Eat it! I don't care."

"Really!"

Closing her left hand in a fist to stop her gag reflex and began to recover some of her senses. "_Really_ really, it's all yours, dog, you've already had it in your mouth anyway!"

A pause, Nora could no longer hear his tail thumping either. "Rhut?"

She rolled he eyes skyward. Obviously, for all his talking he didn't have much going on in his attic. She'd have to spell it out for him.

"If you made a plate of food, and you're a dog, ("Rog? Rhere?") Scooby-Doo, then how did you get the _food_ to the _plate_?" She spoke slowly, as if to a small child.

"Ra roven ritt."

Now it was Nora's turn to pause, "…What?" '_Did-Did he just say what I think he said?'_

"Rell…rit ras rot, ro Ri rut on Raggy's roven ritt and-"

Nora pulled open the door in a flurry, forgetting her fear and disgust in the moment. "You _have hands?"_

The Great Dane stared at her as if she had just told him she could use her hands, too. He slowly held up a paw, and wiggled the extra digit back and forth. He stood to his haunches, (towering over Nora by the way, who was none to happy to learn she was shorter than her Uncle's _dog_,) bent over and picked up the plate with his paw.

"Ruh-huh." He showed her.

Three seconds before Nora fainted dead away, she managed to say "Oh my god I've been trapped in a house with _Lassie_."

**__**

_Ugh...What _happened_?'._

Nora awoke on her uncle's bed, head pounding. She inhaled deeply and groaned, sitting up and lifting a hand to her forehead. It was wet, slimey...

"Rora!"

Nora flinched when a massive brown blur yipped happily, wetting her face further with doggy-kisses.

"Ew, no, yuck! Off!"

Scooby backed off like the girl ordered, but fanned her with one paw and a small fan he held with his tail. "Rou ro-kay?" He asked. Scooby looked genuinely concerned, but Nora tried to ignore it. She hated dogs; this one would be no different. Nora turned her nose up and looked in the opposite direction.

Nora didn't react quickly enough when she felt the weight on the bed shift and the springs groan. Before she knew it Scooby Doo's head was in her lap, looking positively adorable. Nora breathed in sharply, making a hissing sound, as if she were some unholy monstrosity burned with a cross dipped in blessed water. She tried several tugs with both hands to move his head, but he didn't budge, oblivious.

The ringing phone was what saved Nora at last. Scooby jumped up and trotted downstairs to answer it. Nora ran down the hall, in the opposite direction Scooby had gone, and slammed the door to whatever room she locked herself in. '_Hopefully, Scooby won't-'_

Nora's thoughts were interrupted by the sniffing of a big black nose under the door. She held her breath.

"Rora's rin ra rathroom, Raggy," She heard Scooby say. She couldn't hear what Shaggy said back, but the conversation ended shortly after that and a few "Ro-kays," and "Ruh-huhs," and a "Rye-rye, Raggy." Nora listened silently as Scooby padded back downstairs, and kept listening to make sure he wasn't coming back. She sighed when she didn't hear him return.

Nora looked around the room for the first time; it _was_ the bathroom, a plain one, decorated straight from the 60's. Any beads, it would for sure be from 1969, exactly. Nora stared at herself in the mirror; she was still a mess from last night at the barn. The smudge of dirt remained on her brow even. Not to mention she had some serious bed-head issues. She flinched a little, and creased her eyebrows.

_'I'm such a mess,'_ Nora thought as she made a face to the girl in the mirror. She opened the hutch next to sink and found the towels she hoped were there.

"Might as well shower while I'm being held hostage by Underdog."

It took maybe a total of five minutes to figure how the shower worked, and which knob led to cold or hot water. She peeled off her clothes, which looked just as happy to be off her bed-raggled body as she was to have them off, and undid her hair, unbraiding the long strand and let it loose behind her.

The small teen stuck her tongue out at her shapeless figure in the mirror and disappeared behind the flower-power and peace sign covered curtain. For a minute she just stood there, letting warm waves of water envelop her and begin to work out the stiff muscles in her neck and shoulders.

A quick shower turned to a thirty minute one, until the hot water was nearly emptied and Nora's fingers were long, wrinkled prunes.

Nora closed here eyes as the warm water hit her face and ran through her hair. There was always something about shower, or just bathing in general, that calmed her, no matter the situation. She sighed happily, feeling renewal with every drop of water. After just standing under the water for a good five minutes, Nora reached for the shampoo and turned to feel the pressure on her back. She rubbed in the gel in as soothingly as she could, giving herself a scalp massage. She smiled to herself, as she let the world melt away.

After another ten minutes, Nora, reluctantly, turned the dial to shut off the water. She listened to the soft _drip-drop_ of the water falling from her hair onto the floor of the tub. She opened the curtain, stepping out onto the fuzzy mat, and wrapped the purple towel around her bare body, and her hair. She sighed as she stared at the mirror right across from her. Well, this girl she saw looked a lot better than the one she saw before, as far as cleanliness.

Nora looked through the medicine cabinet for mouthwash and small dixie-cups. She'd of course come back with her tooth brush, but needed to do _something_ until then. She gargled and watched herself make faces in the mirror for one minute exactly and spit into the sink.

Nora picked up her closed and tip-toed to the door. She opened it slowly, a very minuscule squeak sounding as it became ajar.

'_No Scooby yet.'_

Nora, holding her towel to tightly with one hand, clothes in the other, made a dash for her uncle's room to her suitcases. She slammed the door behind her, glad to see no Scooby yet again. She sighed in relief and opened one of her bags and began to dress.

Nora was in the midst of brushing her long, wet hair when she heard a rumble and froze.

_'Keep calm, keep calm. Maybe, it's just your stomach?'_ She tried to kid herself. _'Or maybe the dog found a cat outside?'_ Nora, dropping her brush, forced herself to walk to the window and pull back a curtain. The morning's blue skies had darkened, and Nora wanted to throw up. _'Oh, oh-no..'_ A mighty crash sounding and echoed, but was drowned out by Nora's blood-curdling screams.

The large Great Dane crawled in through his doggy-door just as the first few drops of water hit the pavement outside, and his coat was only moderately wet, and he was pleased. He was just in the moment of giving his body a huge rolling shake when a sudden scream nearly shot him out of his skin.

Climbing down from the chandelier above the dining room table, Scooby frowned to himself, then looked horrified. What if there was a banshee in the house!

Another rumbled of thunder, followed by a cry of more terror than Scooby had ever heard in his life….excluding Shaggy or himself, that is.

He walked over to the stairs and stared up them. "Rora?" The only reaction he got was a door slamming, and the T.V. suddenly flickered off along with the couch side lamp.

"Rikes!" Scooby shot for the kitchen, rummaging shakily around for the flashlight Shaggy kept in the house.

"Rora? Rhere areee rou?" He called, ear up for an answer. A streak of lightening brightened up Shaggy's room for an instant, and Scooby peeked in there.

Shaggy's room was empty, but Nora's suitcases were open and clothes everywhere, like some had knocked them aside in a hurry.

The dog frowned, trying to emulate what Fred would do. Maybe…check the other rooms? She couldn't be downstairs, he would have seen her.

Eventually, Scooby-Doo did find Nora. Or at least, a shell of the girl, who was curled up in the closet that was to the left across from Shaggy's room. She was on the floor, hiding behind a long winter coat and sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest. A shock of lightening alerted Scooby to the storm behind him, and the storm reached its climax.

Nora was beyond the point of rational words, she only gave whimpers and indistinguishable babbles when he dropped his head down and sniffed her curiously. What was she so _scared_ of? This was a reaction worse than what he and Shaggy did, because they had the common sense to run away from what ever it was, but Nora was…cowering, quivering, practically in a puddle of fear.

Nora hiccuped, and Scooby noticed she was crying. "Raw…" He looked sad and sympathetic all at once, then sat back on his haunches and watched the girl, trying to figure out what to do.

Already forgetting most of this morning's incidents, Scooby was already willing to lend a hand, er, paw. He reached up a shelf and pulled a fluffy, pink blanket down from a low shelf, draping it over the trembling Nora. He tugged it around her, then nudged her back against him, he was a big dog, she fit into his side so both of them were comfortable, and Scooby curled around her, tail on one side and his head on her other.

"Rit's rokay." He mumbled over and over, reaching up periodically to lick her shoulder or cheek, in what he hoped was gentle and careful.

Nora began to gain some senses over the rushing in her ears, and her frantic breaths began to quell. Finally, she could think clearly enough to figure out where her fear had gotten her this time. As her heart still threatened to beat right out of her chest, she figured out she was A) in a closet and B) curled up against Scooby-Doo, who was curled around her, tail wagging rhythmically.

Adrenaline ebbing away, Nora was left feeling drained, and after a while the noise from the thunder and the shaking house faded back into a brown and black haze, like thundering booming on the other side of a hill. Her head dropped back down on what she decided was Scooby's shoulder, and the door began to shut with the help of Scooby's tail.

Scooby listened to the storm while Nora teetered on the verge of sleep, he had gone alert when her head fell against him, but after deciding it was nothing but fatigue, he relaxed. It was easier to listen in darkness, and he waited patiently, still curled up around his niece, listening to thunder and listening for something else.

Scooby's ears perked, and Nora felt him pull away, _Where is he going?_ She forced her gaze up to see Scooby standing on all fours, one paw on the door. His expression was unreadable, but he suddenly dropped to all fours and took off at a run down the hall and the stairs.

Before she could stop herself, Nora saw her hand out an arm's length reaching for the dog. _What am I doing?_ She thought frantically, surprised by her sudden actions toward Scooby, but any other coherent thoughts were drowned out by another, unexpected boom of thunder.

Her body reacted before her mind and back in the closet she went.

"Scooby-Doo what's wrong with you?" Shaggy exclaimed irritably from the floor. He had just spent a busy Saturday morning and lunch covering a shift for his boss…and this was the thanks he got? Being flattened by his dog tackling him from the landing and ending up half outside half inside? At least he got home earlier than he thought he'd be home. The rain had already gotten him soaked between the van and the door, he wasn't in an overall pleasant mood, less, even.

Scooby seemed too excited for words. He picked himself up, then his best friend, and began tugging insistently on his shirt, pointing at the stairs and tugging. Lightening streaked outside and light up the room and Shaggy wondered if the power had gone out.

"Like, at least let me get a flashli-" Shaggy was cut of as he was yanked away from the kitchen by his collar.

"_Ro_!"

Wringing out what he could of his shirt, the beatnik let his dog haul him up the stairs and a little ways down the hall to the storage closet.

"Like, what-" This time Shaggy was cut off by a crash of thunder and a scream following it that sounded like it came from the closet.

Shaggy jumped at the scream. 'Like, what-" Shaggy didn't even finish his sentence before Scooby shot off to the closet, instinct telling him to follow. Scooby stopped on a dime, nearly causing Shaggy to tumble right over him. Sobs and whimpers could be heard and a pitiful cough. Shaggy dropped to his knees as he pulled the pink blanket back to see his niece on her side in the feeble position, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. Her cheeks saturated with new tears.

"Oh, kiddo! Norry! It'll be alright!" Shaggy scooped up the pathetic creature. His niece was so short, and looked even smaller when all curled up. "Like, good boy, Scooby," Shaggy said quickly and carried Nora downstairs. He sat with her on his lap like a mother would her new-born infant as Scooby rested his chin on Shaggy's knee, not having enough room to cradle Nora. Shaggy held her face against his chest when he knew another crackle of thunder was about to irrupt. It became almost a game after a while, and Nora seemed to be playing along, knowing just when to brace herself. If Shaggy's shirt wasn't damp before, it was soaked now from Nora's tears as she wailed into his shoulder, burying her face.

Shaggy tried rocking back and forth lightly to calm her, tried soothing shushes, and stroking her back, everything he could think of. He was running on plain instinct, as parenting wasn't normal for him, and a little awkward at that.

The clouds in the sky changed from a depressing gray/black, to a lifeless storm seemed to be dying down again as the thunder became a low rumble. Nora's sobs became loud sniffles and hiccups.

Shaggy looked at her sad eyes, "Like, Nora, you okay?"

The lump in Nora's throat hurt was sore. She bit her lower lip hard and shook her head. '_No._'

"Like, will some hot coco with whip cream and cookies make you feel better?" If it didn't at least help Nora, it definitely wouldn't hurt Shaggy's nerves at the moment. Shaggy moved and spoke slowly, worried that the slightest motion or word could set the young girl off into another fit.

She shrugged, not wanted to really give a straight answer.

Shaggy picked the girl up, setting her next to him on the couch and stood. He didn't make it two steps when two arms encircled their way around his waist and refused to let go. "Like, Nora, I can't make you anything with you holding on like that," Shaggy tried to reason, but a small whine began to crescendo, and he began to try and cover up his mistake, "er, I, just, zoinks, Scooby will stay with you, won't you buddy ole' pal?"

Scooby was beside them by time his name was mentioned. Hesitantly, Nora, whom still wore the pink blanket around her shoulders, let go of her uncle, and reached for Scooby's collar. Shaggy walked into the kitchen and Nora wanted to find the place she felt most at ease. A place were her worries washed away. She began to take determined, though small, strides to the stairs. Scooby pulled her in the direction of the couch, but she pulled back harder.

Scooby let her lead him, this time.

**__**

Shaggy entered the room, surprised her hadn't heard a peep from either members of his family while gone. "Okay, like I've got oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip, and ore-os?" Shaggy looked around. Nobody was there. "Like, Nora? Scooby-Doo?" He called.

"Rup rere, Raggy!" Scooby called back.

Shaggy followed the voice, balancing a tray of drinks in one hand, and a plate of cookies in the other. He walked up the stairs, and down the dark hallway, lit only by light from windows in the rooms to either side of the hall. Shaggy stepped into the open bathroom. Nora and Scooby were sitting in the empty bathtub. Shaggy gave them a strange look, "Like, what are you two doing in here?" But received no answer. "Well," he began, as he carefully set the plate on the edge of the tub and gave everyone a mug of warm, soothing coco, "If, like, you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Shaggy sat awkwardly, on the end opposite of Nora, with one leg completely out of the tub, no room left.

Nora, for the first time in nearly an hour or two, spoke, well more like mumbled, for only the Great Dane to hear as she snuggled further into the pink blanket once more.

"Good boy, Scooby Doo."

**A/n's Note: That sort of reaction isn't uncommon. That's how my little cousin is, the poor thing, and only one her big brothers could calm her down. **


	3. Possible Murder Suspect

**A/N's: Rivy: Eh. **

**Torpe: ...redruM.  
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**Disclaimer: We own nothing but the plot and Nora herself.**

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Nora woke up once before any one else did in the house. There wasn't a clock in the bathroom, (was she still in the bathroom? The curved hard frame under the duvet against her back and soap on the shelf inches from her cheek told her yes,) and one small, private window with a frosted style. But it was still dark out, maybe an hour before dawn, maybe not.

They had all fallen asleep like this, all crammed into the tub in the bathroom on the second floor of her Uncle's house. She loved this tub. She didn't think it was original with the house, but who knew? This type of house seemed to have its own secret history. Whether it was original or not, the tub was an antique claw footed beast of a thing that was long enough for Nora to stretch out completely -though that wasn't saying much, considering the (_lack of) _height of the girl- had the rest of the space not been occupied by a Great Dane and her Uncle; both of who were out like the lights above and snoring to prove it.

Oh, Scooby's head was back in her lap again. She wiggled in the slightest in discomfort, but stopped when the dog stirred in his sleep. She was curled up at one end, cradled by the tub and the thick blanket-where had this blanket come from? Dim memories, surrounded by thunder and lightening and the house shaking along with her drummed its way to mind.

Oh. Right. That storm. This was nothing new, at the very least, she'd always had these attacks, even before that dog one. There was no beating around the bush, she plain got panic attacks.

Nora suffered from her first panic attack on the first day of grade school, aged six. She had used to think a panic attack was a twinge of fear, maybe a few bated breaths. Not so. This episode truly earned the name attack, seizing and transforming her entire body when she got caught outside waiting for her mom to pick her up at the end of her first day of school.

Cupping her cold and empty mug, Nora arched back into the quilted duvet, remembering. Her chest had tightened until she could barely breathe, as the rain pounded from the sky like bullets. Her hands grew numb and tingly, she couldn't move or cry or speak; only watch as the heavens descended around her in a blaze of noise and forks of light. She had only been six. she didn't comprehend it. All she knew was her world was being blasted to pieces, and where was mommy?

Her mom didn't come until five; school let out at three. At four thirty her teacher saw her out there and had gotten her inside, but the damage had been done. And the storm raged on, both inside and outside her mind.

Her fear continued as she grew, to go so far that during a light rain during a distant cousin's wedding where she had hidden under the cake table and cried. She had been seven that time.

Nora tried to explain it to her mother- the murky beating of her heart in her head, the dots obscuring her vision, the tightness in her chest, the invisible hand squeezing the air from her lungs. Terror had taken residence inside Nora and made the girl its slave when ever a storm rang over head.

From that admission on it was a barrage of doctors and tests. Eventually she was diagnosed with severe brontophobia.

'_And now,_' She thought to herself, _'I had to go and have an attack in front of these guys. I mean, Uncle Shaggy gets scared of things too, but my fear I just plain ridiculous.' _

Nora looked up, across the tub was her gangly Uncle crammed into a third of the tub, one leg hanging over side from lack of space, head awkwardly resting on faucet, as a good half of Scooby's hind legs held his chest in place. Before she could stop herself, Nora's lips turned upward in a small smile at the two in front of her.

'_Still, they stayed with me. But what does that count for?'_

Nora didn't like dogs. As a matter-of-fact, she hated them. Well, actually, she feared them. But it was that fear inside her that made her hate them. You didn't seem weak if you were angry at something, rather than afraid of it, right? Ever since she was young it had been that way. Nora felt Scooby was no different. Though she wasn't sure, she could barely remember how deliciously warm his fur was, along with his calm breathing and gentle licks. He wanted to protect and comfort her. She couldn't say she trusted him; the wall which she had built around her heart over the years couldn't be broken down so quickly. Nora was sure she would at least _attempt_ to respect Scooby in the least. After all, he made her say two words she hadn't put together in the same sentence in half-a-dozen years; _'Good boy'._

Without giving it much effort, Nora dipped back into sleep, that kind of half sleep that falls over you during a nap, and she skimmed like a salmon along the waters of drowsiness for the next few hours, barely stirring when about an a hour later, her Uncle picked her up out of the tub and settled her on couch.

-_**000-**_

Nora awoke on the couch feeling groggy, with a stomach ache, and feeling in desperate need of a shower, despite it being the last thing she did before her...moment last night. She felt disgusting and unpleasant, but most of all, felt like being a bitch to anyone and everyone for no reason and not caring. Not to mention the breakfast she thought she might be smelling she hoped included chocolate somewhere. Why? She felt perfectly okay just hours earlier. Nora released a small groan, but received no response.

_'I must be in a room alone. What the Hell?_' Nora surprised herself; since when did she think like that? The shock didn't last long, because with the pain she was in, she felt like she deserved it, even earned it, if you will.

Nora opened one painful eyelid, then the other. _'Where am I?'_ She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. It finally clicked that she was in the living room. Nora tried to sit up, but fell back, proving such a motion was painful. Her second attempt, though not graceful, was successful. Nora grabbed her stomach.

_'Did I gain weight?'_

There was a sharp twinge of pain from just below Nora's stomach, causing her to bend over and grabbing her sides. Why did she feel, wet?

_'Oh, oh GOD no! Nonono-_'

Nora ran, or waddled rather, herself up the stairs as quickly as she could, biting back the pain, heading straight to the bathroom.

-_**000-**_

Nora peaked around the kitchen door, peering at Shaggy timidly, who was reading the comics section of the newspaper.

"Uncle Shaggy?" The beatnik glanced out from his paper at his niece, who was staring at him with a blush and a wide doe eyes. She was the cutest little thing-

"Like, what's up kiddo?"

Nora sagged against the door, but opened her mouth and threw it out anyway. "I need some girl-things...it's that time of-of the…month."

Shaggy stared at her as if she'd grown another head. He pulled the paper back up suddenly, "Scooby, go take Nora to the store." Came a voice from behind the paper.

"Ruh?"

After some complaining of cramps, whining, and the threat of water works, Shaggy threw his pride out the window and drove Nora to the nearest drug store. He stood by the magazine rack by the front door the entire time, while Nora gathered her things. Shaggy gave her twenty dollars, not even looking at her when handing her the money, as she headed for the register to pay.

He received no change, and was not about to ask Nora about it, fearing a hormonal break-down.

She ran to the van, practically flying past Shaggy so he wouldn't see her shame. He walked to the snack aisle and bought some pudding. Chocolate pudding.

When they got home, Nora took off to the bathroom ahead of Shaggy to get herself together. Shaggy went straight to the kitchen, preparing chocolate-chip waffles. Shaggy, despite popular belief, wasn't stupid. He knew _some things_ about girls in their, states. Sugey taught him early on; provide MUCH chocolate, but don't insist on eating it for he was sure to get the, 'ARE YOU _**TRYING**_ TO MAKE ME FATTER?' speech. (He also learned that any hesitation to answer would result in '_OH! SO YOU REALLY DO THINK I'M FAT_?') It was like an offering to the Tiki God, drop the plate and run. Sure he went through this with Sugey, but with Nora, it was just…different. Way awkward.

Over a half an hour past, and still no Nora. Shaggy walked up the stairs, slowly and cautiously. Finally making it to the door, he heard light sobs and hiccups. He rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Norry?"

"Go -hic!- A-waaay!"

He pressed on, "Norry, are you okay in there?" He couldn't believe he was going to ask this, "Do you need me to come in-"

"_**NO!**_" Nora screeched, then continued to cry. He flinched.

"Nora, are you sure you're okay?"

There was a pause before her answer. "N-no. This is my first one. I don't know how any of this w-o-o-o-o-o-orks!" Nora burst into tears, and continued to bawl behind the door as Shaggy made his way downstairs. Faster than he could ever remember, he began to dial Velma's phone number.

He was going to need just a little bit more than Velma's brains for this one.

-_**000-**_

When Shaggy saw Fred's convertible pull in the drive he had never felt happier, not to mention safer. When Fred, Velma and Daphne all got out, Shaggy almost hugged them.

"I, like, wanna help her but, don't know…thanks for coming, guys." Shaggy rung his hands, obviously distressed about the whole situation.

"It's okay Shaggy, we understand," Velma nodded, as well as Daphne.

Shaggy parenting, even the words together themselves sounded foreign to the gang, which might have been why every one had rallied to the beatnik's house. They wanted to give support, and they remembered Nora when she was little.

"Shaggy? Did you want to come give moral support?" Daphne offered as she stepped onto the stair, Velma close behind.

Shaggy held up his hand before him, "Like, no way man! There's two things I don't mess with, that's teenage girls, and teenage girls in high school. For a few weeks back when Sugey was that age I thought I was gonna get knifed in my sleep, let me tell you."

So Daphne and Velma headed upstairs and both he and Fred paced nervously downstairs.

When Daphne and Velma got to the bathroom, they were stopped by Scooby, who was just plain confused about the whole situation and was lying outside the bathroom door, looking pitiful.

Daphne bent over, "Oh, poor Scooby-Doo. I bet you feel bad for Nora, right, Scooby?"

"Ruh-huh," Scooby nodded, lower lip protruding, eyes wide.

Velma mimicked Daphne and rubbed the Great Dane's head encouragingly. "I know you want to be there for Nora, Scooby, but I think the best thing at this point is to head downstairs with the rest of the men, okay?"

Reluctantly, the brown dog heaved himself to his feet and headed downstairs, nails clicking on the wood at his descent.

Straightening up, Daphne smoothed her dress and tapped her knuckles against the door. "Nora? Can you hear me?"

"Uh, who's, th-that?"

"I'm Daphne Blake, a friend of your Uncle's, we haven't met since you very little, sweetie." Nora seemed to be processing this information, for there was silence on the other end of the oak door.

"And I'm here too!" Velma made herself sound cheerful, fully sympathizing with the poor girl.

A small hiccup came from behind the door, "Oh! You're…uhm, Velma, right? Dinkley…I think?"

"Yup!"

Daphne smiled at the door, "Don't worry Nora, the cavalry has arrived, everything will be fine now."

Scooby, though he would never admit it, was glad he was given permission to go down stairs. He wanted to help Nora, he really did, but that smell of iron was too much to handle. It filled his nostrils and he felt sick to his stomach. Other dogs would act on a complete different instinct, but considering Nora was practically his _niece_, well, Scooby wanted to puke.

He was half way down the stairs when he heard Fred's voice. His mood did a quick one-eighty as he dashed down the remaining steps and tackled the blonde man to the floor. "Reddy! Ri!" He exclaimed.

Fred, ignoring the soreness of being forced to the ground in such a painful manner, laughed in response. "Hi Scooby Doo! How are you buddy?" Freddy continued to laugh, previous matter forgotten, as his face quickly became saturated with dog drool. After a few moments, Freddy finally found the strength to push the Great Dane off his chest and sat up, though Scooby remained in his lap. Freddy's attention turned back to Shaggy.

"So, what's going on with her? Velma and Daph wouldn't tell me." Freddy was a very bright young man, he really was, but sometimes he could be clueless.

"It's, like, nothing you want to know, man."

-_**000-**_

Over ten minutes passed by and the girl was starting to calm down to where she _almost_ had finished her sniffling. Considering the situation, they were going very quickly. Daphne, whom had emptied an over-sized purse, which was really more of a suitcase than hand bag, stored everything Nora could possibly need under the sink in the cupboard. Velma and Daphne were a tag team. Velma explained the biological science behind the madness, while Daphne went through procedures and how-to's, answering any and all questions along the way. They even listened very intently to the girl's sob story of her last few days.

"I'm guessing all this sudden stress helped bring this on. Between your mother leaving and that storm-Nora, why didn't your mother ever tell you about any of this?" Velma asked, patting the girl's knee with one hand, adjusting her glasses with the other. Daphne handed the girl two pills and whispered, "Take these," under Velma's voice as she handed the girl a dixie cup of water.

Nora gulped down both pills at once and finished her water, "It, must have slipped her mind," Nora glared at the floor. The mention of her mother at that moment hit a certain soft spot. The sort of spot that was soft because it was bruised, and sore, and festering. "I knew _of_ this sort of thing, but I obviously that wasn't much knowledge at all."

"Hey, it's alright, honey," Daphne hugged the young one. Nora wanted to pull away at first, almost hissing at the human contact, but realized how much more comforting she needed, and wanted. "If you have any questions, or need any help at all, just call." Daphne took out a small sheet of paper with two phone numbers underlined by the two names they belonged to.

"My number is there too. Call us or stop by anytime; your Uncle won't mind at all. We'll be over as quickly as we humanly able," Velma insisted.

Nora, face forced into an uncomfortable frown, nodded her head. It was then her stomach came to life, growling as if ready to attack. The girl blushed as she covered her abdomen, but it only got louder.

"Come on, Nora. Let's head down stairs to get you something to eat," Velma smiled warmly at Nora. She let out a mousy sound, apparently agreeing, because she stood followed the women out the door.

Nora was finally feeling better. She felt like some of that unbearable weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt like she wasn't alone. She felt-like she should murder her uncle! Nora came face-to-face with a man she wasn't sure if she had met before. Freddy turned around to see her staring at him in disbelief. Though she wouldn't ever utter her thoughts, she thought he was a little easy on the eyes, though she wasn't sure if she would have thought such thoughts before that day. Of course, all those thoughts were lost when he smiled at her, waved, and said, "Hey Nora. How's your little problem going?"

Little did she know he had no clue as to what either of her problems were; i.e. her body playing a horrible presto-change-o trick on her, or her sudden lack of privacy and trust she suddenly felt. It was then she began to screech loud enough to put any harpy-lady to shame.

-_**000-**_

About an hour later, the house had finally quieted down, and Shaggy, Scooby and the homicidal niece were the only ones left in the big place, all congregated in the living room, Nora curled up in the easy chair, lost among big black blankets and huge cushy throw pillows. Once her fever brought on from the cramps slowly ebbed away, she found herself in a very comfy place, but with hormones still raging war on her senses, she had no desire to leave her spot, and no one made her.

Her Uncle was her angel undercover at that moment, after covering her up, he went to kitchen and returned with, no joke, three Hershey's bars, a box of oreos, a jar of peanut butter, and, upon her tear-filled request, a bowl of regular buttered pasta with salt and pepper mixed in. All it was delicious, and all of it was gone over the course of the next five hours, during which Nora simply sat and ate and wallowed in pain and watched the television set as the night settled around the house like one of Nora's blankets.

Her Uncle let her watch whatever, all though he did have to change the channel during the climax of _Titanic_, after he watched his niece dissolve in a padded pile of full-size tears and sobs.

Now it was the middle of the night, the day gone in an aftermath of the 'Curse,' and hidden by food and sad movies, and after Nora had started crying at _The Lion King_, Shaggy finally stuck in the first movie he could find that couldn't be a tearjerker, which turned out to be _Space Jam_, and eventually all three of them fell asleep to it, Nora in her chair, Shaggy on the couch, Scooby on Shaggy. It was twelve thirty at that time.

Nora woke up to an uncomfortable sensation in her lower body. '_Uhm…okay,'_ She thought as her mind started waking up,_ 'Daphne said…to take some more aspirin after six hours, and I took it…at what time?'_ Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as her brows furrowed while she began to count off the hours on her fingers.

She grudgingly began to crawl out from her cozy cocoon, and tiptoed upstairs to the bathroom, shutting the door as silently as humanly possible. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Nora quickly changed, then opened the door and peeked out to make sure no one had woken up at her flushing. Didn't sound like it.

'_Now for those miracle little pills,' _She found them waiting for her on the countertop, along with the cup she's used this afternoon. A wave of hot pain ran through her and she doubled over for second, hissing through her teeth and willing her mouth to close around her scream, letting out only a small gasp of pain.

'_Crapcrapcrap. The bottle says two…Daphne gave me two…oh, what could be wrong with taking three or four? I __**am**__ in a lot of pain after all.' _She poured out five, and returned one, and had her cupped hand full of pills nearly to her lips when something appeared in the doorway.

"Rora?"

The girl jumped back and straightened to see a groggy Scooby-Doo in the door way, eyelids dropping. He gave a gigantic yawn.

Recalling all the huge goofy dog had done for her, Nora couldn't find it in her heart to yell at him.

"Go back to sleep Scooby. I'm okay," _I'm dieing, I'm freaking exploding_ "Really, I'm fine."

Scooby regarded the girl for a minute, looking a minuscule bit more awake now, before shaking his head and dropping outside the door, head on his paws, big eyes watching her.

'_Oh, he's waiting for me…I guess. That's kind of sweet.'_

Nora forgot all about the dog as she grabbed her abdomen and doubled over as another sharp pain overtook her being. She placed a hand over her mouth, feeling as though she was going to lose all that food she had eaten. After a third wave of pain, and some Lamaze breathing, she slowly began to stand up straight, arms still in position around her stomach. Scooby was up and at her side in no time at all, though she still didn't seem to notice him. He put his cold nose on her upper thigh, making her jump, causing more pain. Nora bit her lip and dug her nails into her palms until they formed little half moon in-dents, feeling sudden anger at him, just resisting screaming at poor Scooby Doo.

_'He's just trying to help, don't lose your temper. It's just your hormones.'_

After some deep breaths, Nora began to walk to the door to exit the bathroom, but her body began to smart once more. One sharp intake of breath later, Nora hobbled her way back to the medicine cabinet. She found the ibuprofen bottle, missing the Midol completely, and swallowed two more pills. Nora stared at the bottle in her hand.

_'The more pills I take, the more pain relief, right? I think they only wanted me to take two so I didn't become addicted, right?'_ Nora pondered as she gulped down a sip of water to go with her fifth and sixth pills. _'I'm not the sort of person,'_ she thought mindlessly.

Scooby, not aware of proper dosage, simply stayed by her side, and let her cling to his collar as he guided her through the darkness of the hallway. Once back in the living room, with Shaggy still out cold, Nora curled back up into her cocoon of blissful solitude, completely obvious to the dangers of over-dosing which had slipped her mind, and drifted to sleep.

That morning, Shaggy couldn't wake her out of her coma-tose like state.

_**A/N**_**: Torpe: My poor father, he puts up with so much. He's not afraid of anything, but the three women of the house; _especially_ when our cycles fall into sync. He is the ultimate provider of chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, chocolate syrup****, and**** knows just when to hand over the remote without being asked. Thank you, Daddy. -heart-  
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	4. Peanut Butter Sandwich

**A/N's Notes: Rivvy: You know I feel like I'm saying less and less as these chapters go on. **

**Torpe: _I've gotta jar of di-irt! I've gotta jar of di-irt! And- _..Aw man! Now I have to remember to put _another_ thing in the disclaimer... -huff-**

**Disclaimer: Shaggy and Scoob ain't ours, nor are those lyrics above. So, let's all just do a Chinese fire-drill; 'Kay?**

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Shaggy yawned and stretched as he cracked his back. _'Closer to the fridge or not, I have to get off this couch soon.'_ He shuffled his way to the kitchen, picking up empty bowls and spoons, and what ever else was left over from the one-girl snacking session as quietly as possible, being careful not to make any loud noises that would cause his niece or dog to stir. Once he reached the sink he began to wash the dishes immediately. He hummed a soft tune and continued to do so for about ten minutes until he was satisfied with his work.

Shaggy turned on his heel away from the sink when he tripped over Scooby Doo. "Woah, like, Scooby Doo, what's up?" Scooby looked anxious, and took hold of his owner's shirt in his teeth. He pulled him to the threshold that connected the kitchen to the living room. "Like, can't wait for some food, right Scooby? I was just gonna, like, wake up Nora and see what she wants to eat now."

"Rurry, Raggy! Rora's rick!"

Shaggy stared at Scooby, "S-sick? How so? She's not, like, throwing up, is she?" Scooby didn't answer but simply pulled harder on the over-sized shirt Shaggy wore. Shaggy took cautious steps to the living room, peeking around the corner only to see the same bundle of comforters and pillows had not moved. "Scoobo, she's just tired," Shaggy reasoned.

He walked over to the large armchair and in a gentle voice asked, "Like, Norry. Kiddo. What do you want for breakfast?" No answer. Shaggy spoke a smidgen louder and carefully gave one of the small girl's shoulders a shake. "Nora, co'mon sweetie," the pet name sounded ridiculous coming from him, but he didn't want to set the delicately blooming flower off on a murderous rampage.

Still no answer.

Scooby whined as he placed a cold nose on Nora's cheek. Shaggy's voice grew to a normal speaking voice, stern with worry, "Nora? Nora. Wake up." The gentle touch to her shoulder became a firm grip on both her upper arms and violent shake that could wake a drunk from their stupor. "Nora! Nora! Open your eyes, kiddo!" Shaggy was considered paranoid, and his dog followed suit, so when Nora's eyes lifted open, there was a unanimous huge sigh of relief. She did not jump out of his arms only stared up at him dimly with an unfocused expression.

"Uhhm…" Nora seemed beyond coherency as well, and two seconds after looking at her Uncle sleepily her head lolled back in sleep.

"Zoinks…please just be sleep." Shaggy moaned softly. Deciding to face the dragon in girl's skin, he shook his niece again; trying to remember if unconsciousness was one of the curse's symptoms.

He didn't think so.

"Nora, rise and shine!" This time, Scooby-Doo followed Shaggy's distress call with his loudest bark he could manage, nearly turning it to a howl, startling Nora out her sleep.

"Mom? When did you grow a beard?"

In Scooby's excitement, he tackled her and licked her face happily, earning Nora's unfocused gaze "And when did we get a horse?"

Shaggy stared at his niece, and blinked; once, twice.

Nora's gaze sharpened considerably, her cheeks puffed out like a little chipmunks, and, hair standing on end, she shot up out of her tangle of pillows and blankets, taking a small tumble to the floor. Without missing a beat she jumped up, shoved aside Shaggy and knocked over Scooby in her rush to the kitchen as her head disappeared over the sink and her braid flew back and forth. Shaggy and Scooby were right behind as soon as it registered, and Nora's stomach emptied its contents into the sink. Hoping to be helpful, Shaggy timidly flipped on the facet as it gushed out water, drowning out Nora's gags.

Patting her back anxiously, Shaggy frowned as Nora continued to dry heave, painful, throaty gasps rattling the girl to the core until she was clammy and shivering in a cold sweat from the exertion of forcing her body to quell its upheaval. "K-kiddo?" Nora saw more than felt long skinny fingers curl carefully around her arms, as they began holding her up.

Nora pulled away and leaned heavily on the counter top. That dreary gaze was back again, her entire body seemed to be in a fog as Shaggy watched his small niece stare at him. Nora's legs buckled out from under she mumbled something incoherent. The beatnik dropped down in sync and caught her as she fell, lifting her body up as Scooby nosed her arm up onto her stomach, tucking his niece in his best friend's arms.

"Zoinks! Scooby-Doo…I think something's really wrong with her…"

Scooby's ear dropped, "Reah." He stared at the girl for a second before staying behind to turn off the faucet as Shaggy headed toward the sofa. Trotting evenly after Shaggy, he found both humans settled on the couch, Shaggy still holding Nora, but trying to elicit a response from her.

"Raggy! Look!"

Both of them started when Nora groaned and lifted a hand to her head. "What hit me?" She whispered, then paused as she tried to levy where she was, Shaggy's bony body so different from her last resting place. Shaggy moved to speak, when Nora spotted him through her fingers, and spread them to stare at him. His heart sunk at her next comment as he realized she was delirious.

"Mom?" It came out pitiful, relieved, all the sounds of a happy child at seeing their parent. Nora smiled, small tears at the edge of her eyes left over from throwing up, "Mom, I missed you, I'm really glad you came back."

Noting her glazed over expression and slow moments, Shaggy only closed his eyes and bit his lip. He let Nora hug him, let her hide against his shoulder and over Nora's own shoulder, shook his head at Scooby, bringing a finger up to his lips.

Scooby dropped to the floor and rested his head on his paws, confused and distressed.

**_-0o0-_**

Nora slipped back into a state of blissful unconsciousness after that. When she awoke the entire affair was forgotten, and replaced with dizziness that was set off by simply lying still, and ringing in her ears. Shaggy tried desperately to remember back to his days of hiding from Sugey as she complained of her girlish symptoms. He wasn't sure if he recalled dizziness, -"But, like, it would make sense, right? From the blood loss?"- but he was pretty sure ringing in ears wasn't one of them.

He smiled as he chuckled, "Like, maybe someone is talking about you?" Nora wasn't amused.

"Ugh...Uncle Shaggy," Nora whined, "My head has a _pulse_..." Her pulsating headache was accompanied by her other pains, to which Shaggy offered the girl two ibuprofen.

"Like, did you have any more after we went to bed? With your weight, (**-_"WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT?"_-**) you can only have two of these every six hours or so."

Nora, fighting off a wave of nausea while laying back on the couch, spoke her groggy thoughts, "How come?" She scratched her suddenly itchy stomach. It felt raw. Had she been scratching for a while without paying mind to it? _'What ever….not important.'_

"'Cause you can, like, over dose and get really si-," A look of pure realization hit Shaggy. "Nora?" He asked, almost in a warning tone. The girl in question lost all the color in her face. Shaggy asked once more, "_Nora?_"

"Uncle Shaggy...I think I," Nora fumbled over her own words "-Uncle Shaggy, um, I-I, I screwed up." Shaggy crossed the room in a matter of two strides as her grabbed the hem of her shirt. He lifted it just enough to see a large rash developing on his niece's belly. Nora began to cry; as she always did when she got caught. "I'm sorry. I d-didn't-didn't-" Shaggy neatly tossed her over his shoulder and took off for his van. "Where-*hic*-are-"

"The hospital," he answered curtly. No 'like's or 'man's about it. Just, _'the hospital'_. Just as they arrived, Nora began to panic about her blurred vision.

Nora was forced to go through the rest of her first period without a single pain-killer. Between her Uncle and Scooby, the house was in medical cabinet lock-down for her.

**-000-**

Finally, a week later, Nora was back to normal. Or, as normal as one could be in a place like this. Today was Tuesday, and Tuesdays meant Shaggy was covering both lunch and dinner, and it being already two in the afternoon, the house was quiet save for the owner's niece and his dog.

Nora twisted her hair back and forth, back and forth, into three separate strands as she sat cross legged in a kitchen chair. Scooby watched from the floor, mesmerized by the ridiculously long strands swaying to and fro. As the parts took their familiar place into plaits, Nora quickened her weaving pace until the entire length of her hair was nearly done, and she could wrap it around to her front and better tighten the hair into tucks.

Scooby-Doo watched all this with simple intent, ever curious and wondering.

His tail thumped when Nora fixed her gaze on him. Her face dropped back into a frown, ever since her curse had ended, Nora's cruel streak at Scooby had come back. And why shouldn't it? She had forgotten completely of her silent promise to respect the dog she had made to herself.

'_He's just a dumb dog anyway. He's nice, but stupid. Like all dogs.'_ She thought, tying off her braid tighter than she needed to.

Scooby grinned, then got up and laid his head on her knee. She pulled away with a small shriek, shaking her knee to make the dog move. He withdrew his head, but as soon as she settled back down, Scooby-Doo dropped his head back on her knee. Her heart pounding and her palms sweaty, Nora went to push the dog's head off of her. Her hand had just made contact with his fur when he…whined.

She stopped. It was a puppy's whine. One that begged acceptance and love. And it was adorable, even coming from Scooby-Doo.

Without even thinking, Nora ran her hand through Scooby's fur, trapped in remembrance. It was soft and at the same time, coarse. He laid his head back on her knee, whining again, but with less conviction.

With a memory running wildly through in her mind, she felt suddenly lonely. And running her hand through Scooby-Doo's fur _was_ comforting. She petted the dog and he settled in even more and she didn't feel the sudden, urgent need to push him away.

At least not until the mail slot chunked its way open and let the day's delivers fall to the floor at the front door. With a startle Nora jumped away from Scooby as if he'd bitten her. She rushed to get the mail, Scooby sat back on his rump with a disappointed thump and decided he was hungry. Smacking his lips at the idea of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the Great Dane began to bustle about the kitchen, gathering bread, peanut butter and jelly from bread box, cupboard and refrigerator, in that order.

When Nora turned the corner with a handful of mail, the sight before her was one she decided she'd never forget. Scooby-Doo at the counter, up on two feet, spreading jelly on a butter knife generously on a slice of bread, and humming to himself.

Drawing up an eyebrow, Nora shook her head. "What the heck are you doing, dog?" She quipped, Scooby turning around in mild surprise.

"Randwich!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "Rant some?" He brandished the knife, now slathered in extra nutty peanut butter.

"I'm good. Thanks." She declined, but headed toward Scooby to place the mail on the counter top where her Uncle could easily reach it. She sighed. _'No post card from mom yet._' Having placed the mail, she swung away haughtily from the goofy dog, just as Scooby slammed a piece of bread on top of a two inch section of peanut butter.

Nora's braid swung behind her, leaving a long trail, and catching on something that made a very familiar sound like bread being placed on peanut butter. It squelched as both occupants of the room turned to look at the long trail of plaited hair leading from the back of Nora's head to Scooby's sandwich.

"Ruh-oh." Scooby supplied quietly.

Nora became rather calm at the moment. But then suddenly her shoulders started lifting, her spine curving as she drew a hand back and pulled her long hair out of Scooby's peanut butter and jelly sandwich very slowly. Scooby's stomach dropped to his feet and suddenly he lost his appetite as Nora's hair released with a squelch and came free, covered in the sticky substance.

"Oh my god." Nora stared at the tangled mess with an astonished stare. Her face twisted into something resembling the Creeper's face and Miner FourtyNiner all at once.

Her voice rose. "_Scooby-Doo I'm gonna kill you!"_

The scene was much like the one of Nora's first day at her uncle's house, though the roles were reversed. Scooby ran for his life throughout the house as Nora chased him; Hell hath no fury. The poor dog tried to calm her, "Rora! Ri'm rorry! Rit ras rah raccirent!"

Nora slipped on the rug and slid on the hard wood floor when failing to mimic Scooby's sharp turn as he dashed to run around the couch.

"Nothing gets peanut-butter out of HAIR! Why can't you be a normal bloody dog that eats kibble?" She screeched as tripped over a chair she couldn't see through her rage. Her braid was whipping wildly behind her as she ran. It occasionally hitting a wall or her back, smearing the peanut-butter and jelly mix onto her shirt and whatever else it made contact with.

Now, Nora always kept her hair long. It was one of her mother's (insisted) wishes...requests...okay, demands. And even though she took a bit of pride in how well she could keep her hair neat and well-maintained, Nora always told herself that once she was out on her own, she would bob her hair. Or even at least cut her hair to shoulder's length, just because she wanted to. It was just something she wanted to do, eventually.

Peanut-butter could make this come true, but Nora couldn't see the advantage of it at the moment. All she saw were scissors coming her way and hacking off the braid.

Scooby made a mad dash for his doggy door. Nora followed him, right into the door. Her face made contact with a loud THUD! She staggered backwards a few steps, rubbing her nose and forehead. She growled as she grabbed the doorknob so tightly her knuckles turned white. She ripped the door open and whipped her head from side-to-side, looking for Scooby Doo. No dog in sight.

So it had to be done the hard way, had it?

Nora scowled out the door, slammed it, and stalked up stairs, after obtaining a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawer, the dog forgotten. She paused at the bottom of the stairs considering moving something large and heavy over the doggy flap and bolting the door, but her sticky hair got the better of her attention and Nora headed up the staircase anyway. She got into the bathroom, and shut the door. Standing erect in front of the mirror, Nora tenderly picked up her braid and moved it over her shoulder, holding it just above the end of the peanut butter tangled mess with pinched fingers. If she removed the entire part that was covered in peanut butter, she would be losing over fourteen inches of hair.

Nora moaned, dropped the scissors and crumpled down on the cool linoleum, unable to bring herself to close the blades over her precious braid.

Much later than night, Shaggy popped through the door, only to discover Nora sitting at the kitchen table with a plastic bag knotted around the end of her long braid and scowling.

When his niece fixated her Uncle with a glare that could melt the Snow Ghost Monster, Shaggy gulped and nearly lost his grip on the Chinese food he'd brought home for dinner.

He sheepishly held up a carton of food, "Uh,like…Moo Goo Gai Pan?" He offered.

Nora pulled of the plastic bag, revealing a brown mess of braided hair in stiff stale peanut butter. "Can I have peanut butter with it?" She glowered.

It took fifteen minutes to figure out what happened from Nora, who was more pissed than anything, and to find Scooby still hiding under the backyard table, who was more scared than anything.

Shaggy finally convinced Nora that cutting the mess was the only way to go, and did she really need that much hair anyway?

"No. No, you're right Uncle Shaggy." Nora sighed and handed over the cutters. "Could you do it, please? Quickly?"

Her Uncle smiled happily, dropping his shoulders as he relaxed. Nora turned around and Shaggy took the clump carefully in his hands, drew it out, and with a fluid motion _snip!_ The peanut butter was gone and the braid hung pathetically in Shaggy's hands. He threw it away before Nora could turn around and see it, and gestured encouragingly to Scooby-Doo, (who was still cowering under the kitchen table) to come forward as Nora calmly re-braided her now back length hair.

"Rora?" Scooby spoke through a pathetic whimper. She flicked her eyes at him, but said nothing. Scooby hung his head, and, in the epitome of cuteness, laid his head on her foot, staring up at her with big doe-eyes. "R'im sorry." He offered.

After a second, Nora nodded acceptingly. "Thank you Scooby. I know…you didn't mean it." _'That doesn't mean I'm going to completely forgive you though. Who would?'_

Late that night, everyone around the tv as they ate had everyone read their fortune cookies out loud at the end of the meal.

"Like, le'see here," Shaggy squinted to read his scrap of paper in the tv's glow. "_You_ _can always find happiness at work on Friday_. Well sure ya can! Friday's Fish Fry night!" The beatnik laughed with pleasure.

"Rish fries, rum!"

"Okay Scooby, your turn."

"Ro-kay Raggy….rere it ris, "_Rour many ridden ralents will recome robvious to rose raround rou_….ruh?"

Shaggy shrugged, "Like, who knows man? Maybe you'll, like, save one of our skins or something?" Shaggy chuckled at the thought, then asked Nora what hers read.

She unfurled the paper and stared at the words.

"What is it kiddo?" Shaggy leaned foreword across the couch, curious.

Nora cleared her throat, and, in a rather quiet voice, read "_To love is to forgive."_

_**A/N: **_**_Torpe: _Guess who just joined the real world and is no longer using dial-up internet? YAYS! But I'm still _cheesed off _that, for what ever reason, my firefox won't work. UGH! Oh well...I hoped you enjoyed the chapter kiddies.**


	5. A Walk in the Dog Park

**Author's Notes: Rivvy: …this is probably my favorite chapter so far, I think. **

**Torpe: Well, kiddies, do you know what '_torpe'_ means? **

**Disclaimer: ...S'up?**

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"Like, think you could take Scoob here to the dog park later? It's close by, you two can walk, and he'll show you the way." Her Uncle asked innocently early one morning, on his way to the restaurant, halfway out the door, before popping back in and handing a blue leash to her. It had been several days since the peanut butter/hair incident,

Nora was so tired she could barely remember her own name, and her response was "Sure. Yeah, okay. Bye Uncle Shaggy." And maybe "can we have mac 'n cheese for dinner?" But regardless, she had said yes. And worst of all, Scooby had heard it. Nora might as well have been his new best friend the way he acted when she grudgingly clipped his leash to his collar. Scooby shot out the front door and she followed right behind, barely touching the front steps before Scooby took off left, and dragged her down the sidewalk.

"My god, what had I been thinking, saying yes to this? A dog park of all things?" She grumbled to the passing cement blocks, the Great Dane practically loping foreword in his excitement.

_'Because you actually are starting like your Uncle, and deep down, you're starting to like Scooby, if just a little bit.'_ Came a little voice in the back of her head.

_'Oh, shut up!' _She snapped right back. One dog and her Uncle did not make up for that incident so many years ago. That scar would never go away. She had told herself to try and tolerate Scooby-Doo, and so far she was doing better than she expected, given the circumstances. But Scooby acted hardly like a dog, he didn't bark, didn't growl or tear apart his toys or the neighborhood children with his large, pointed-

Nevermind.

Scooby pulled her down the sidewalk, and while Nora briefly wondered if she'd been kidnapped, it wasn't more than ten minutes later they rounded a corner to see a large enclosed area surrounded by a high wire fence and signs posted on every side.

Dogs enclosed inside, barking, running, chasing...

Nora swallowed hard. '_What did I get myself into?'_

"Um, so, _how does this work_?" Nora, though she'd never admit she was _actually_ talking to the huge dog let alone asking it something, stared at Scooby curiously. Scooby looked around at the other dogs in the park, whom were running freely and playing, then back to Nora. Then for good measure, he pawed at his leash.

"Oh, right..." Nora mentally slapped herself. Scooby turned his head so the girl could easily reach the clasp of his leash. Problem was, it was an old leash; no, not old; _vintage_, thus resulting in a lock that refused to unclip without giving up a proper fight. As Nora battled the leash, Scooby looked around, hoping to see some familiar snouts.

A medium sized dog yipped as he trotted and jumped running everywhere but to his owner. She ran frantically trying to grab him, but was the dog too speedy, giving little hope to the girl, chasing her ebony-blur of a hound.

Another dog, with fur that had every shade of white, brown, black, and gray in it, lounged in the shadow of a tree, trying to cool down in the unforgiving heat. She watched her companion, a Golden Retriever with an elegant coat of his species' namesake, frolic much more obediently with his own master than the previous pup with the obsidian fur.

Then, he saw her. He wasn't sure if his heart or tail was beating faster. He stood from his sitting position, unaware Nora still hadn't disconnected his leash from his collar. "Scooby, hold on." He couldn't help it though! A German Shepard named Kayla, a name Scooby knew all too well, jumped into the air, twisting as she caught a frisbee, then landing with grace. Scooby's tongue couldn't seem to fit in his mouth anymore, nor his heart in his chest; he wanted so bad to play with Kayla. He barked a greeting to her.

He didn't hear Nora's command. He took a few steps forward towards the female dog. "Scooby!" Nora hissed, "Wai-!" But it was too late. Scooby was off like a shot, dragging an unsuspecting Nora in the dirt behind him. She screamed as they blasted past the Golden and the mutts, and the others present that went unmentioned. She kept screaming, through the bushes, over the rocks, and by the tree. Scooby came to an irrupt halt in front of Kayla. Nora kept flying though, and landed in the pond. _Scooby_ was then the one being pulled as he landed on top of her.

He was pushed off she sat up and sputtered water and seaweed. She was cut and scrapped, and everything in between. The leash gave her burns on her hands and arms. "That's _IT_!" She screamed. Scooby shrunk, hoping not to be noticed and was all but doing an impression of a fish when she grabbed his collar and found some unknown strength as she practically _threw_ him onto land.

"BAD DOG!" She screamed. Everyone had been staring at her. She was humiliated, but her focus was on the Great Dane.

"Rog? Rere?" Scooby questioned.

Her hand flat, her smack his back haunches. "BAD! GO!" She screamed once more and stomped after him. He tucked his tail between his legs, suspecting it would get marched upon by the blonde otherwise.

**-0o0-**

Finally letting himself get caught, the black dog pressed against his owner, whom was kneeling, afraid of the three minute new-comer of the park. The girl pushed her glasses back into place on top of her nose as she looked up and the red head with the Golden whimpering between her legs. "Some people just can't take care of their dogs."

The red head raised an eye brow back at the girl. Though, there was a more important thought of concern. "Wasn't that Scooby Doo?" The red-head asked suspiciously. The other shrugged, and in that second of letting go of her furry-friend, he took the chance to run again, and she took off right after him. Watching this, the red head sighed to herself and shook her head.

**-0o0-**

Nora stomped up the pond's edge. She stomped past the frantic black dog and its bespectacled owner, stomped past the red-head, and finally found herself in front of a small dirt trail leading into a forest. A sign on a tree read 'Dog trail' and 'please pick up after your pooch!' with a box filled with plastic bags. Well, she had no idea where that stupid giant klutz had gotten too, and still feeling sore about the whole thing, Nora headed down the trail, not particularly caring where Scooby was or what he was doing. And although Nora paid attention to the first sign, she did not see the piece of paper tacked under it, rounded at the edges, that showed a picture of a Doberman and a small paragraph that read 'Lost Doberman, answers to 'Killer' if seen, DO NOT approach, known to be dangerous, please call '855-293-1314' or 'Animal Control'.

Ten minutes down the trail, and Nora found herself feeling oddly better, the woods were expertly laid out, with winding, but not dizzying trails, and although she did walk by or spot some dogs and their owner's not far off, they didn't say much and she didn't say much back and the dogs just trotted by, tongues wagging with tails and panting happily.

Mindlessly rubbing a particularly itchy scratch on her arm, the teen rounded the bend of the dirt path leisurely, and then stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. It was a dog, somewhere between a medium and large size, square build and short, black coat. The dog was compactly built and athletic-looking, showing speed to its body but some of its ribs peaked on the dog's chest.

One more valuable thing Nora noticed before she took off in the opposite direction-the dog was growling and heading straight for her.

Nora had never thought about trying for the track team, but the way she was flying, and if she made it out of this alive, her distraught mind considered the sport for her while the rest of her body freaked and screamed right along with her.

_'It was a doberman...!'_ She thought, and as Nora tripped over a root, maybe thirty feet and a hill away from the exit/enter to the dog trail, she landed, hard, on her stomach and swung around to her back and up on her elbows in the time it took for the black dog to skid to a trot and snarl loudly. As it closed the space between her, Nora took some condolence that she had at least identified her killer.

As the dog advanced on her, snarling all the while, Nora raised her arms to shield her face, the vicious creature dived for her and-

A big brown blur knocked the doberman right out the air and sent it FLYING.

Nora watched, eyes the size of dinner plates and her voice hiding somewhere, as her savior landed in front of her, placing it self between her and the Doberman. Scooby-Doo had always struck Nora as a goofy dog, easily frightened, (the spiders-in-the-bathroom-incident had proven that,) lovable and friendly. She had never seen him guard anything, he wasn't vicious, didn't act like a guard dog of any sort. But the dog between her and that Doberman was all fury and growls and hair raised between his hackles. Scooby dug his front paws into the dirt, his blue leash dangled behind him, and he growled, deeper than that other dog's by far.

And if Nora had doubts that this wasn't Scooby-Doo before, than the curt "Rack off," aimed at the Doberman was any indication.

Not to be out done, the Doberman turned its sights to Scooby and lunged at him, taking his leash in its jaws and hooking a set of claws into his shoulders. Big mistake. Scooby was bigger, in muscle and height, and apparently angrier, because Scooby swung his neck, his leash and the Doberman, away from him and slammed the opposing dog into a tree trunk.

It was easily the coolest thing Nora had ever seen.

This time the Doberman seemed to learn its mistake, because it picked itself, slowly, up from its landing and started limping away, picked up speed and headed deeper into the forest. The adrenaline from nearly getting eviscerated by a dog started ebbing away, and Nora's breathing began to turn to normal. Brown with black spots filled her view as Scooby suddenly poured over her, sniffing and licking to see if she was alright. Nora reacted by taking Scooby's large head in her hands, and saw only large big eyes full of that unconditional love dogs have she had forgotten about.

Tears came to the teen's eyes as she was overwhelmed with both joy and guilt. "Scooby, I'm-I'm so sorry! You're a good boy! You're a really, really, good boy!" By this point she had thrown her arms around his neck and was crying into his fur. Scooby didn't flinch and felt instinct take over, just letting her cry onto him. One of his front legs wrapped her in a hug, the best he could do for being a dog at least.

When she had calmed down, Nora looked straight into Scooby's eyes with her own, still wet with tears. She looked back at his tail-end. "I'm sorry, if I hurt you," she apologized, ashamed of ever striking the hound.

"Raw, rit's rokay," he smiled and gave her a lick.

"No, it's not," she replied. Nora patted were Scooby had been hit and a slight rub, as if to massage the sting away. "What now, Scooby Doo? What would you like to do?" Before he could answer a grumble came that made Nora jump and spin around, looking to see if the Doberman was back for round two. The noise, previously mistaken for a growl, came again, only louder. Nora looked back to Scooby, "Was that...your _stomach_?" Scooby grabbed his stomach with one paw and gave a sheepish chuckle. Then, Nora's stomach replied in a similar manner. She blushed, and copied the Great Dane's action in grabbing her stomach. "Hey, how about I buy you some victory lunch, pooch?"

Scooby's head began to nod up and down, Nora was afraid it would come off. "Reah! Reah!" He jumped onto her, knocking her down, and licked her face. Nora, though, did not yell, nor complain. She laughed, loud and happy.

"Okay, come on, boy."

She got up and began to walk to the exit, only to hear something hit the ground with a THUD! She heard it a second time, and a whimper. She spun around to see Scooby limping up to her while trying his hardest not to set his right paw down. How could she have missed it? His shoulder! It was bleeding! Scooby hadn't left that battle with the Doberman unscathed.

"Scooby!" Nora knelt in front of him. Then a thought flashed into her mind. '_What am I going to tell Uncle Shaggy?_'

**O000O**

"Like, a Doberman! Zoinks, poor Scoob!" And then an-almost after thought, as it finally sunk in, "Like, poor _you_! Norry!" The girl found herself swept up in a pair of long thin arms and into her Uncle's chest.

Scooby watched this dazedly from the couch where he was settled on, shoulder bandaged, with all his shots and drugs and all from the vet in his system. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he drifted off to sleep, his humans sitting on the floor below him, discussing the day.

As Nora re-accounted her story for about the third time that day, (she had been interrogated by that redhead and her friend the minute she'd half carried half supported Scooby out of the woods.) The two girls turned out to be just a few years older than her, both concerned in that dog-lover way, and since they knew Scooby and Shaggy as regulars, it wasn't long before the redhead had her cell whipped out calling the Park vet and the blonde was helping Nora stem the blood and cooing and petting at Scooby like a true dog lover.

Nora then had to tell the Vet everything she'd experienced, from walking the woods, what trails she took and the Doberman's weight and health condition as Scooby was being treated. There were two cuts that needed stitches, but not many, some small scratches that would get treated just to be on the safe side, and of course the poor brave hound needed rabies shots too.

Then, because Scooby was in no condition to walk home, let alone walk very much in general for fear of the stitches being opened, Nora had to wait on one of the benches just outside the park, Scooby's head in her lap, for Uncle Shaggy to get off his shift at the restaurant and pick her up.

Getting Scooby home was no easy task, since whatever they put in Scooby's system to take any pain away also took all logical portions of his mind away too. He lumbered through the door and onto the couch, and Nora, nearly in tears over the entire day, just dropped to floor beside Scooby and told her day to her Uncle between hiccups and sniffles.

Somewhere in her story she might have cried just a little, because Shaggy panicked and fell to his knees in front of her and rubbed her shoulder awkwardly.

If Nora thought her Uncle would kick her out for hurting his beloved pooch, then maybe the doc had, like, given her some of that stuff too, cause there was no way in, like, heck, he was gettin' rid of his favorite niece for something that wasn't her fault.

"Uncle Shaggy, I'm your _only_ niece." Nora gave an embarrassed laugh.

Standing up, her Uncle towered over her. "An', like, that's what makes you my favorite, kiddo! No competition, right Scoobo?"

"Ruh-huh…" Came a sleepy mumble from the couch.

"But seriously, Norry, I'm not mad, I'm more relieved you're okay, and Scoob, too. Scooby-Doo is my best friend, and he's your Uncle too. If that Doberman, like, attacked me Scooby would do the same thing. Though, like, the only thing I've ever seen him guard is his plate on spaghetti night!" Shaggy chuckled, helping his niece to her feet. Rubbing her shoulders up and down, Shaggy pulled her back and looked her over, "C'mon, kiddo, let's, like, hit the hay, as they say. We need to get some shut eye, you've had along day. …Cool, I rhymed!"

Scrubbing the palms of her hands into her semi-dry eyes, Nora bit back laughter at her Uncle's antics, "Okay, Uncle Shaggy."

**O000O**

Shaggy woke up the next morning with some kind of odd weight on his shoulder. Without much thought, he mumbled, "Like, Scoob, you feeling better, man?"

"Ruh-huh," came an answer from the couch. (His dog was hurt, of course Shaggy gave him the couch! He was happy to sleep on the floor with nothing but an old rug separating himself from the hard-wood floor.) Shaggy's eyes shot open; if Scooby was still on the couch, then, what-? Shaggy heard the soft snores of his niece. She had slept in the living room, unable to be alone and feel comfortable on the upper floor. Not wanting for the girl's sleep-cycle to be interrupted, of _course_ Uncle Shaggy had let her sleep down stairs with her uncles.

Shaggy relaxed and sighed in relief, even _with_ the small amount of warm drool on his arm from the girl. Skillfully, Shaggy managed to somehow switch places with an over-stuffed pillow -in contrast with his bony-shoulder- and slipped into the kitchen. "Like, Scooby Doo, I'm going to cook us up some chow for breakfast. Stay here with Norry, 'kay?"

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby saluted his master, and curled up beside the girl.

Shaggy, taking the day off for his two beloved family members, took his time cooking. He took pride in his creations, before devouring them in a single bite, no matter the size of the meal. Just as he had finished, Nora walked into the room, rubbing her eyes free of sand, dust, whatever the preferred term was, with Scooby right next to her.

"Mornni', uhn-ahhn-ah-cal, Shaggy," she greeted with and loud yawn that brought tears to her eyes.

"Like, morning to you too, kiddo. You hungry?"

Nora nodded, still groggy from sleep, and dropped ungracefully on a bar stool, stretching cramped muscles. Scooby followed, a little stiffly, but got himself up and sitting into the chair across from Nora. She stared at him.

"You are the strangest dog I've ever seen."

"Rog? Rhat rog?"

_Well, that explains that._ She thought. "What's for breakfast Uncle Shaggy?"

Shaggy turned from the stove with a flourish. "Like, leftover mac n' cheese omelets!"

"Ro Roy!"

"Oh…kay." Still, Nora was the first to admit after breakfast that is was possibly the best omelet she'd ever eaten, despite its…flavorful ingredients.

"You took off work Uncle Shaggy? What are we doing today?" Nora asked as she dried the morning dishes. She stood stationary, because Scooby had dropped back onto the floor after wiping the kitchen table with a dish towel for Shaggy, and was now currently curled around her feet, content to sleep the day away and recover.

"Hmm…like, no idea." Shaggy thought out loud as he rinsed a plate, then handed it to his niece. "Oh! I got it, Wanna help me clean out the attic? Well…it's less an attic more a nook, perhaps a cranny…but like, it's got a window seat thing and its carpeted and, zoinks, a closet too! You can have that for your room, kiddo!"

Scooby moved his head on her foot and snored. The way her Uncle had described her room made her think he was more excited to have current company than she'd thought before. She wondered if he and Scooby-Doo got lonely in this house all by themselves.

"Okay, Uncle Shaggy, that sounds nice."

"Great! We'll like, finish the dishes, wake up Scoob here, and head on up to the nook, I mean attic, I mean, your new room!"

**O000O**

Daylight or not, Nora was first up the stairs to the attic. She held both her broom and dustpan Shaggy gave her in one hand, grabbing the doorknob with the other. The door didn't so much as budge, resulting in Nora almost hitting her head on the wood. She grunted and growled until she finally barged through with aid of her shoulder.

"Ooow!" She whined to herself. Sticky door. She rubbed her shoulder, which was still sore from her little adventure when Scooby personally introduced her to the dirt in the dog park. Not long after, Shaggy stumbled into the room with a bucket of water and a mop while Scooby hobbled in with the dust cloth in his curled tail and one in his mouth.

"Okay kiddo, Scooby can handle the dusting, and I'll, like, clear some of these boxes out of here. Just start sweeping, 'kay?"

"M'kay!" Nora, whom had never been too keen to clean, agreed merrily and got right to work. After a mere few minutes Shaggy had to switch places with Nora. How was he supposed to know muscle could come in such a small package? Not ten minutes passed when Nora asked, "Uncle Shaggy, silence makes me nervous. Can we turn on some music?"

"Like, sure thing, Norry," Shaggy said as leaned his broom against the wall. "I think there's an old radio somewhere in here…ah, hem…" Shaggy bent over some boxes and Nora could hear objects being moved around and one, apparently made of glass, broken. After another two minutes of searching, and about three minutes screaming upon discovering a spider or two, Shaggy finally found the little old black radio, which was older than dirt.

Nora looked skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised with that it worked perfectly and worked with batteries, which were _almost_ as old as the radio itself. Scooby dragged his tail across the radio, shining it up, even just a little a bit.

A spider scuttled across the bedside table that Nora set the radio down on, as the girl began fiddling with the dials.

"_Zzzt-Everybody's…bzzzt….love today-" _

'

"_And know you know the rest-" _

"'_Cause you're hot 'n your col-"_

"_That I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fu-"_ Shaggy's hand shot over Nora's shoulder for the dial and turned it hard left.

"_Zzzpt! "She can't keep dying over this, because it's just killing me," _The radio practically screamed.

Nora pulled back after a few chords of this song, clapping her hands together, "Hey I love this song! By Chronic Future!"

She did not notice her Uncle and his dog detach themselves down from the ceiling at the loud blasting music. This band sounded like they were confused between rap and hard rock, and quite frankly it was not the bubblegum music either of them was used too. Still, they laughed sheepishly to each other, and then continued to their work. Things began to move much faster with Nora practically bopping around the room in tune with the music, all rock or hard, rather loud metal.

"Like, I know I'm getting old if I start thinking this music is too loud, Scoob." Shaggy addressed once to his dog with a small smile, who nodded in agreement while Nora danced on the other side of the room.

In no time at all the room had lost boxes and layers of gloom and dust. All that was needed was a new set of sheets for the twin bed in the corner, Nora wanted a pillow for the window seat, and Shaggy promised a bed side lamp and to fix the fan first thing in the morning.

"Morning? What time is it?" Nora popped her head out from the closet.

Shaggy checked the cat clock Scooby had dug out and hung and set. "Like, almost five thirty! Zoinks, we've been cleaning the whole day, time sure flies when you're having fun!"

Nora blinked. "What time did we eat breakfast?"

Shaggy shrugged, "By the time we woke up…we like, kinda slept in. It was more of a brunch really. About eleven we ate? Yeah, we've been working the past four hours, like woah! How about we, like, go out for some chow and some dessert, my treat."

"Wow, thanks Uncle Shaggy! That sounds great! Do I have time to shower first though? I'm all gross from the dirt," Nora informed her uncles, all the while emphasizing her point by patting her shirt, creating a small dust cloud.

"Like, sure thing, we'll make a date of it! Scooby'll wear his best collar."

Nora looked back over her shoulder on her way down the ladder, "Oh, that reminds me, can I pay for Scooby's food? I promised him yesterday as thanks, an' all." Stitched shoulder or no, Scooby still found enough energy to knock Nora down to her back at the foot of the stairs and lick the daylights out of her.

**O000O**

Later that night, she was surprised when Scooby followed her up the stairs and into her loft, now bedroom. But she didn't comment, he was probably just curious, wanted to sniff a few things then, she hoped, he would head back downstairs to Shaggy. She was surprised he was able to climb all the way up there, or that he hadn't ripped open his stitches yet.

It was late in July, the time between air conditioning and those stifling nights you wanted, but couldn't afford, cool air. She wouldn't need the covers, so there was no point in unmaking the bed; she simply pushed her suitcase off the top of her bed (it landed with a pitiful _thunk_,) and took its place, sticking one pillow under her head and stretching out across the expanse of it.

Nora watched the streetlight from outside rest on the slanted ceiling, and listened to the snuffling sounds coming from the area her suitcase went off the bed. The floorboards creaked and groaned closer to the bed, and the snuffling noise stopped altogether. The bed suddenly sagged in unison with a giant figure suddenly blocking out the streetlight. Scooby scooted around in a circle a few times by Nora's side, and then settled down beside her, apparently content. A huge sigh heaved from the dog.

Up until now, Nora had, admittedly, been too unsettled to speak or move. Now she swallowed the rock in her throat. "Uhm, Scooby-Doo?"

The shadow lifted a pitch black head, its dog collar tinkling at the movement. "Res?"

According to what little she knew of having a dog, dogs belonged in the kitchen, or better yet, in the backyard. She had seen Scooby's dog house in the backyard, she had just never seen him in it. Although, she had also seen a big blue and yellow dog bed in the kitchen corner too.

That only led Nora to assume her Uncle's dog slept with him, which was fine with her, since she didn't particularly care for dogs much herself, but any dog she came across always seemed to be deluded in her hesitance, and would crowd her and sniff her.

So why did she originally assume Scooby-Doo would be any different?

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

"Nevermind. Good night, Scooby-Doo."

"Right-right, 'Rora." The shadow's head disappeared, but she felt it hit just beside her elbow, as her arms were tucked up under her pillow.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

**Torpe: Tackled the beast today, i.e. I cleaned my own room. Yeah, time _really __does_ disappear when ****you're fighting off a half dust-dirt/half dog fur monster with a dust-pan as it spits out old socks you haven't seen in months at you, along with your favorite hoodie you swore to the Heavens above that your very life depended upon you getting. No, to answer your question, it's not often that I'm bored.**

**Also, we don't any of those songs above; forgot to mention them in the disclaimer, and yes, I'm _that_ lazy.  
**


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